Former Andhra Pradesh Speaker, Kodela Siva Prasada Rao has allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself at his residence in Hyderabad, the police said on Monday.
Rao, a senior-most leader of the opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP), was seen hanging himself to the ceiling fan of his room after which his family members rushed him to the Basavatarakam Hospital. The TDP leader was confirmed dead by the doctors after undergoing treatment earlier in the day.
Kodela was a 6-time MLA and served as a minister in the cabinets of TDP founder NT Rama Rao and present party chief N Chandrababu Naidu.
In 2014, after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh to create Telangana, Kodela was appointed as the first Speaker of the state.
According to reports, Rao took the extreme step after he was “humiliated and depressed” by the cases of corruption and financial irregularities charged against him and his family.
After Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSRCP came to power, several cases of corruption were registered against his son and daughter.
Kodela Siva Prasad’s son was accused of allegedly stealing 30 laptops and a printer from a Rural Skill Development Centre in Sattenpalli, in July 2018.
Kodela himself was accused of stealing furniture meant for the Speaker’s chamber.
Later, he admitted that he ‘shifted’ expensive furniture from the premises of the old state Assembly building in Hyderabad to his residence-cum-office in Sattenapalli in Guntur district.